Automatic stock regulator for paper machines



F. H. MAXEY 1,838,563

AUTOMATIC STOCK REGULATOR FOR PAPER MACHINES Filed Jan. 31, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dem, 29, 1931.

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AUTOMAT IC STOCK REGULATOR FOR PAPER MACHINES Filed Jan. 31, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 I D I I I I l I ll lilllllllllllllk v gwalnnto o l'THllla/xejy III II. ll'llll "all 1.1 llrllull lllll. II IIF IIIII'IIIIIIIIIIIIII l I i l I I lll aillalL F. H. MAXEY 1,838,563

AUTOMATIC STOCK REGULATOR FOR PAPER MACHINES Filed Jan. 31.1950 4 Sheets-Sheet s Dec. 29, 1931.

Dec. 29, 1931. F. H. MAXEY AUTOMATIC STOCK REGULATOR FOR PAPER MACHINES Filed Jan. 31, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet IYYYVVYVv Patented Dec. 29, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FRED H. MAXEY, 0F CAMDEN, ARKANSAS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO BAXON AND WARREN, OF CAMDEN, ARKANSAS, A 1' AND J. W. WARREN ARTNERSEIP COMPOSED OF ED. 1'. SAXON AUTOMATIC STOCK REGULATOR FOB PAPER. MACHINES Application filed January 31, 1930. Serial m5. 424,978.

of the stock or pulp as it passes from the stock box may be automatically regulated so that it may be maintained at a certain weight.

A further object is to provide for this ur- -pose a pan which is ad ustably counteralanced and upon which the stock is discharged prior to its passage to the paper making machinery, which pan is operatively connected to a gate in the stock box so that if the weight of the pulp passing over the pan is too great, the said gate shall be lifted and an overflow opening be unclosed whereby some of the stock in the stock box may overflow, the amount of stock passing over the first named gate being reduced and on the other hand if the stock passing over the pan becomes too light, the first named gate will be lowered to cause a greater amount of stock to pass and the overflow opening be closed, this mechanism acting automatically.

A further object is to provide a device of this character in which the means for raising or lowerin the gate and opening or closing the over ow outlet is operated by means of a motor, the balance pan acting to operatively connect or disconnect the motor from the gate operating mechanism or cause the motor to raise or lower the gate.

Other objects have to do with the details of construction and arrangement of parts as will appear more fully hereinafter.

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of a stock box and regulator constructed in accordance with my invention;

Figure 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the construction shown in Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a side elevation of the upper portion of the stock box showing the regulating means; I

Figure 5 is a detailed elevation of a portion of the regulating means partly broken away and Figure 6 is an elevation of the stop mechanism for limiting the movement of the counter-weighted arm.

Referring to these drawings, 10 designates generally a stock box which may be of any suitable construction and which is divided into three cells 11, 12, and 13 by the vertical partitions 14 and 15. Extending upward through the bottom of the cell 11 is an inlet pipe 16 by which the pulp is forced into the cell 11. Extendin from. the cell 12 is an overflow pipe 17 w ich extends back to the ordinary storage tank for the pulp. Extending from the bottom of the cell 13 is an outlet pipe 18 which extends to the paper making machinery.

The pipe 16 is preferably a ten inch pipe, the pipe 17 an eight inch pipe, and the pipe 18 is a ten inch pipe. Of course, these dip ensions are purely for purposesof illustraion.

Thepartition 14: is formed with an 0 ening 19 having guides 20 at the sides, the ottom of this opening being V-shaped. Disposed in the guides 20 and extending more or less across this 0 ening is the gate 21 which is preferably of s eet metal. The up er end of this gate is formed to provide a c lute 22 having upwardly inclined side Walls 23. This chute is preferably downwardly extended. The chute ma have a length of ten inches and a width oi twenty inches. The lower end of this gate is ada ted to close the opening 19 which constitu s an overflow opening. When this gate 21 is raised, a passage will be opened between the cell 11 and the cell 12 whereby pulp may be permitted to overflow from the cell 11 through the passage 19 and will be discharged against a downwardly inclined baffle plate 24 as shown in Figure 1. The pulp will then be discharged downward through the outlet pipe 17. Assuming that the gate 21 is closed, then the pulp will pass over the chute 22.

The gate is supported by means of a screw 25. This screw passes up through suitable frame 26 disposed above the stock box and mounted upon the frame is a nut 27, the exterior of this nut being formed with beveled gear teeth 28. Coacting with the nut 27 and acting to rotate the same in one direction or the other is a beveled gear 29 mounted upon a shaft 30 supported in the frame 26. This shaft 30 at one end extends out beyond the frame 26 and carries upon it the hand wheel 31, to be used in emergencies should motor be out of commission.

Mounted upon this shaft is a ratchet wheel 32. This ratchet wheel is mounted within the frame 26 and has upon its opposite faces the peripherally arranged ratchet teeth 33. These teeth are arranged on opposite faces of the ratchet wheel 32 and the teeth on one face are reversed with relation to the teeth on the opposite face. (See Figure 5.)

Disposed above this ratchet wheel and mounted upon the frame 26 if desired is a worm wheel 34 which carries upon it a crank 35, this worm wheel being driven by a worm 36 in turn operated by a motor in any suitable manner and of any suitable character.

The wrist pin carries on it the connecting rod or depending link 37 which is bifurcated at its lower end so as to provide two arms 38 and 39 which extend down on opposite sides of the ratchet wheel. The arm 39 carries upon it a downwardly and inwardly extending pawl 40 while the arm 38 carries upon it the upwardly and inwardly extending pawl 41. These pawls engage with the ratchet teeth on the ratchet wheel 32. If the member 38 be swung so as to carry the arm 38 toward the ratchet wheel, the pawl 41 will engage the teeth on the ratchet wheel.

If on the contrary the arm 39 be shifted toward the ratchet wheel, the pawl 40 will engage the teeth thereof. Assuming that the worm wheel 34 rotates constantly in one direction, then it will be obvious that when the yoke formed of the arms 38 and 39 is disposed in a medial position, the ratchet wheel will not be actuated at all. but that if the arm 38 be swung toward the ratchet wheel, the ratchet wheel will be operatively engaged with the worm Wheel and will be rotated in one direction while if the arm 39 be swung toward the ratchet wheel, the ratchet wheel will be rotated in the opposite direction.

For, the purpose of automatically swinging the member 38 to thus drive the ratchet wheel in one direction or the other and thus raise or lower the gate 21, I provide the bal anced pan 42 (see Figure 1). This pan is hingedly supported at one end as at 43, this hinge being formed by an angle iron extending transversely of the stock box and having an upwardly extending flange inserted in a notch 44 in the pan. The opposite end of the pan formed with a recess for the reception of a rounded upper end of links 45. The lower end of these links 45 are pivoted. to arms 46 projecting from a transversely extending rock shaft 47 mounted in suitable hearings in the stock box. These arms 46 are disposed immediately beneath the forward end of the pan 42, the upper end of this pan being disposed immediately beneath the discharge chute 22. Also mounted upon the rock shaft 47 is a rearwardly extending arm 48 which upon its rear end carries the depending weight support 49. This arm 48 operates between stops 50 passing through a U-shaped iron or yoke 51 attached to the wall of the stock box.

Extending in the opposite direction from the arm 48 is a relatively shorter arm 52 having thereon the adjustable weight 53. This arm 52 is formed with graduations 54 for a.

purpose which will be later described. It will be seen, therefore, that when the forward end of the scale pan 42 is depressed, it will depress the arms 46 causing the rock shaft 47 to rock in a direction to lower the weight 53 and raise the weight 49. Attached to the arm 48 is an upwardly extending connecting rod 55 which at its upper end is connected to a bell crank lever 56 whose upper end in turn is connected to a link 57 to one of the arms 38 or 39, as for instance, the arm 38. It will be seen, therefore, that when the scale pan 42 descends under the weight of the pulp, that this will depress the horizontal arm of the bell crank lever 56 and pull the pawl 40 into engagement with the ratchet wheel 32.

This will cause the rotation of the ratchet wheel in a direction to cause such a movement of the screw 25 as will lift the gate 21, opening the overflow 19 and reducing the amount of pulp flowing over the top of the gate and into the pan. lf-on the contrary the weight 49 should over-balance the pan so that this pan rises, that is, if on the contrary there should not be a sufiicient amount of pulp passing over the pan 42 as to cause the lifting of the weight 49 and this weight should do scend, this would act reversely to shift the pawl 41 into engagement with the ratchet wheel 32 and cause a reverse movement of the gate. The gate 21 under these circumstances would move downward cutting off any overflow or reducing the overflow and at the same time lowering the gate so that a larger amount of material will pass over the top of the gate to the pan and thus to the paper machine.

I have illustrated a drain gate designated 58 carrying a handle 59, this drain gate shown as being disposed within the cell 11. Disposed in front of the chute 22 is a baffle plate 60 which causes the material discharged from this'chute 22 to be discharged onto the scale pan 42.

It will be understood that in the operation of this device, the pulp fills the cell 11 and flows over the regulator gate 21, striking the battle 60 so that pulp will be discharged on to the balancing pan'or scale pan 42, this pan' being formed with upwardly extending side walls so that no pulp will be discharged into the overflow cell 12, but the pulp will be discharged into the outlet cell 13.

The arm 52 is formed with a series of graduations 5st indicating revolutions per minute. T o operate this machine to make 4043: paper, place the weight marked 105 1: on support 19. This will lower the arm 18, pulling on the connection 55, throwing in gear 4-0, turning the ratchet wheel 42, lowering the flow gate 21 and closing the overflow 19, thus forcing the pulp overthe top of the flow gate 21 and over spout 22 on to pan 12. T he pawl 40 will continue in gear until the balance pan 42 and its load becomes balanced with support 19 and its load. Then if it is desired to run the paper machine 300 R. P. M., the weight 53 on arm M is shifted to the 300 mark. This weight is designed to help resist the load on arm 49. If it be desired to change the speed of the machine to 600 It. P. M., the weight 53 is shifted toward the rock shaft 47 and to the 600 mark. This will lower the weight support 49, pulling connection 55, throwing pawl -10 into gear, lowering the-gate 21 and forcing the proper amount of pulp over the top of the gate 21 into the balance pan 42 to cause it to be balanced once more with 49.

It will be understood that with a machine of this character the machine is not acted on directly by the consistency of stock except in so far as if there is more water in the stock, the stock will be light and this will act on the balance pan, the pan being the factor and the weight of the stock passing over the pan setting the machinery in motion if the weight of the stock varies, which it would do if there was more water and the stock was of less consistency. The inclination of the pan has nothing to do directly with the rising and falling of the gate, but this inclination of the pan is controlled by the extra weight. or deficiency of weight and sets in motion mechanism that raises or lowers the gate. The consistency of the stock, therefore. has indirectly influence upon the gate due to the fact that the less the consistency, the lighter the stock is.

Therefore, this would cause the mechanism to operate on the gate to make a greater volume of stock to flow over the pan until it was properly regulated.

The stock is supplied by a pump through the opening 16 into cell 11 and there is supplied a greater amount of stock than is required forthe supply of the paper making machine. Therefore, there is usually some stock passing through the opening at the lower end of the gate and back into the tank at all times. lVhen the mechanism lowers the gate, this cuts off the amount of stock going through the overflow at the lower end of the gate and increases the amount going through the opening at the upper end and on to the pan and to the paper making machine.

While I have illustrated .certain details of construction and arrangements of parts, it will be understood that I do not wish to be limited thereto as obviously many minor changes might be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as. detined in the appended claims and furthermoreit is obvious that the parts may be rearranged to some extent' without departing from the spirit of the invention. i

I claim 1. A stock regulator including a stock box having an inlet, a vertically movable gate over which the stock passes to the paper making machine, and means regulated by the weight of stock discharged over said gate for shifting the gate, there being an overflow passage below the lower end of the gate and controlled by the gate, the overflow passage being increased in effective area as the gate lifts and decreased as the gate descends;

2. A. stock regulator including a stock box having an inlet, a gate over WhlCll the stock passes to the paper making machine, means regulated by the weight of stock discharged over said gate for shifting the gate, said means including a pan upon which stock is discharged, there being an overflow passage below the lower end of the gate and controlled thereby, the overflow passage being increased in effective area as the gate lifts and decreased as the gate descends.

3. A. stock regulator including a stock box having a stock inlet. a yertically movable gate over which the stock passes to the paper making machine, means regulated by the weight ofstock discharged over said gate for shifting the gate, said means including a pan upon which the stock is discharged, and an adjustable counter-balance for said pan, there being an overflow passage below the lower end of the gate and controlled by said gate, said passage being increased in effective area as the gate lifts and decreased as the gate descends.

1." A stock regulator including a stock box having a stock inlet, a gate over which the stock passes to the paper making machine, means regulated by the weight of stock discharged over said gate for shifting the gate,

said means including a pan over which the stock flows after it 1s discharged over said gate, the pan being adjustably counterbalanced, and means for regulating the rapidity of flow across the pan, said means including adjustable means for normally supporting the pan at a predetermined inclination and there being an overflow passage below the lower end of the gate and controlled by said gate and increased in efi'ective area as the gate lifts and decreased as the gate descends.

5. A stock regulator of the character described, including a stock box having a pulp inlet, a gate over which the stock passes, the gate being vertically movable, a pan pivoted at its rear end beneath said gate and upon which the stock is discharged and over which the stock passes, the pan being normally disposed in a downwardly inclined position, adjustable counter-weighting means urging the free end of the pan upward, adjustable counter-weighting means urging the free end of the pan downward, each of said counterweighting means being independently adjustable to control the angle of the pan, and means controlled by a movement of the pan from its normal position acting to raise or lower the gate.

6. A, stock regulator of the character described, including a stock box having a stock inlet, a vertically movable gate over which the stock passes to the paper making machine, a pan hingedly supported at its rear end heneath the upper end of the ate, and over which the stock flows when discharged over the gate. adjustable counter-weighting means tending to urge the free end of the pan upward, and separately adjustable counterweighting means tending to urge the free end of the pan downward to thus predetermine the inclination of the pan, a constantly operated motor, ate shifting means adapted to be operated by the motor, and means con trolled by the lifting of the free end of the pan for operatively connecting the motor to the gate shifting means to cause the gate shifting means to shift the gate in one direction and upon a descent of the free end of the pan, to operatively connect the motor to the gate shifting means to cause the gate to be shifted in the other direction.

7. A stock regulator of the character described, including a stock box having a stock inlet, a vertically movable gate over which the stock passes to a paper making machine, there being an outlet beneath the gate, the effective area of said outlet being increased as the gate rises and decreased as the gate falls, and means for causing the gate to rise upon an increase in the consistency of-the stock and to descend upon a decrease in the consistency, including a pan having one end pivoted beneath the upper end of the gate, a rock shaft disposed below the free end of the pan and having arms operatively connected to the free end of the pan, said rock shaft having positively extending counterweighted arms, each having an adjustable counter-weight, one of said arms acting to depress the free end of the pan and thus increase the flow of stock over the pan, the other counter-weight resisting said downward movement of the pan, and means controlled by an upward movement of the pan or a downward movement of the pan from a normal position to automatically shift the gate upward upon a downward movement of the freeend of the pan, and downward upon an upward movement of the free end of the pan.

8. A stock regulator of the character de scribed including a stock box having a stock inlet, a vertically movable gate over which the stock passes to a paper making machine, there being an outlet beneath the gate, the effective area of said outlet being increased as the gate rises and decreased as the gate falls, and means for causing the gate to rise upon an increase in the consistency of the stock and to descend upon a decrease in the consistency, including a pan having one end pivoted beneath the upper end of the gate, a rock shaft disposed below the free end of the pan and having arms operatively connected to the free end of the pan, said rock shaft having positively extending counter-weighted arms, each having an adjustable counter-weight, one of said arms acting to depress the free end of the pan and thus increase the flow of stock over the pan, the other counter-weight resisting said downward movement of the pan, means controlled by an upward movement of the pan or a downward movement of the pan from a normal position to automatically shift the gate upward upon a downward movement of the free end of the pan, and downward upon an upward movement of the free end of the pan, said means including a motor, a reciprocating element constantly reciprocated thereby and havin opposed pawls, a ratchet wheel dispose between said pawls and having oppositely inclined ratchet teeth on its opposite faces, gate shift ng means operated by said ratchet wheel, and means connected to and operated by one of said counter-weighted arms for shifting one or the other of said pawls into operative engagement with the ratchet wheel when the pan shifts from a normal position.

9. A stock regulator of the character described, including a stock box having a stock inlet and having a stock overflow opening, a gate in all positions extending entirely across and normally closing said overflow openin g and over the top of which the stock overflows from the stock box, the gate being vertically movable and having at its upper end a chute attached to the gate, a pan fulcrumed at one end beneath the chute, adjustable counterweighted means for supporting the free essence end. of the pan, and means controlled by the descent or ascent of the free end of the pan tor respectively raising the gate or lowering the gate.

10. A stock box of the character described divided by partitions into three compartments. the first of the compartments having a stock inlet. the last ot the compartments having a stock outlet to a paper machine, the intermediate compartment having an overflow pipe, the partition between the first compartment and the intermediate compartment having an overflow opening, a vertically movable gate disposed on said last named partition, and in all positions extending entirely across and controlling the flow through the overflow opening, the stock flowing over the top of said gate, the upper end of the gate being rovided with a chute over which the stock ows, a pan fulcrumed at its rear end beneath said chute and discharging into the last compartment of the series, adjustable countei weighting means for holding the pan at any desired angle, and means controlled 'by the descent or ascent of the free end of the pan operating to automatically lift the gate or shift the gate downward.

11. In a stock regulator of the character described, a stock box having a stock inlet, a vertically movable gate over which the stock passes to a paper making machine, there being an overflow opening controlled by the lower end of said gate, the stock normall passing over the upper end of the gate, an means acting automatically upon an lncrease in the consistency of the stock to cause the gate to rise to thus increase the overflow opening and decrease the amount of stock discharged over the top of the gate and upon a reduction of the consistency of the stock acting to cause the gate to descend and decrease the overflow opening and to thus increase the amount of stock passing over the gate.

12. A stock regulator including a stock box divided into three compartments, the first of these compartments being an inlet compartment, the last of these compartments being an outlet compartment and an intermediate overflow compartment, the partition between the first and the intermediate compartments having an overflow opening, a vertically movable gate at its lower end controlling the flow through the overflow opening, the upper end of the gate having a chute over which the stock from the first compartment normally passes, a pan fulcrumed beneath said chute and discharging into the outlet compartment, a rock shaft extending transversely of the intermediate compartment and having forwardly extending arms operatively supporting the free end of the pan,oppositelyextending arms mounted upon therock shaft, the arm extending rearward of the pan having means for supporting difi'erent counter-weights and acting to lift the free end of the pan, the arm extending from the rock shaft toward the free end of the pan having on it a longitudinally adjustable counterweight, said arm and counter-weight acting to urge the free end of the pan downward, the two counter-weight arms acting to support the pan in a position normally to produce a certain weight of paper, an increase in the weight of the stock passing on to said-pan causing the pan to lower, and a decrease in the weight causin the pan to lift, and means controlled by the escent of the pan or ascent of the pan acting in one case to cause the lifting of the gate to reduce the amount of material flowing on to the pan and increase the overflow opening, and in the other case to lower the gate, and thus increase the amount of material flowing on to the pan and reduce the overflow opening.

13. A stock regulator including a. stock box divided into three compartments, the first of these compartments being an inlet compartment, the last of these compartments being an outlet compartment and an intermediate overflow compartment, the partition between the first and the intermediate compartments having an overflow opening, a vertically movable gate at its lower end controlling the flow through the overflow opening, the upper end of the gate having a chute over which the stock from the first compartment normally passes, a pan fulcrumed beneath said chute and discharging into the outlet compartment, a. rock shaft extending transversely of the intermediate compartment, and having forwardly extending arms operatively supporting the free end of the pan, oppositely extending arms mounted upon the rock shaft, the arm extending rearward of the pan having means 'for supporting different counter-weights and acting to li t the free end of the pan, the arm extending from the rock shaft toward the free end of the pan having on it a longitudinally adjustable counterweight, said arm and counterweight acting to urge the free end of the pan downward, the two counter-weight arms acting to support the pan in a position normally to produce a certain weight of paper, an increaselin the weight of the stock passing on to said pan causing the pan to lower, and a decrease in the weight causing the pan to lift, means controlled by the descent of the pan or ascent of the pan acting in one case to cause the lifting of the gate to reduce the amount of material flowing on to the pan and increase the overflow opening, and in the other case to lower the gate, and thus increase the amount of material flowing on to the pan and reduce the overflow opening, said means including a motor, a worm driven thereby, a worm wheel having a crank, a yoke reciprocated by said crank and having oppositely disposed, oppositely inclined pawls, a shaft carrying a ratchet wheel disposed between said pawls, the ratchet wheel having oppositely inclined teeth upon its opposite faces with which said pawls coact, a screw connected to the gate, a nut engaging said screw, means on the ratchet wheel shaft "for rotating said nut, and means for shifting the yoke in one direction or the other to carry one or the other of the pawls 7 into engagement with the ratchet wheel including a member mounted upon and movable with one of said counter-balanced arms.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature.-

FRED H. MAXEY. 

